Lifestyle
Woman, 30, Thought Her Heartburn Was Caused by Using Weight-Loss Injections. It Turned Out to Be Aggressive Stomach Cancer
NEED TO KNOW
Chloe Stirling recalled how seeking medical help for heartburn led to her being diagnosed with an aggressive form of stomach cancer in a now-viral TikTok video
The NHS nurse, now 30, initially thought the symptom was caused by her diet, but it worsened once she began to use weight-loss injections
“The typical symptoms that you see for stomach cancer, I had none of them,” Stirling said, after revealing she didn’t lose weight or have blood in her stools
A British woman has had her stomach removed after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer at the age of 28.
While updating TikTok followers on her health in a recent video, Chloe Stirling recalled the one symptom that she had before she was diagnosed with signet ring cell adenocarcinoma in March 2024.
The NHS nurse, now 30, said she had been experiencing intermittent heartburn for around a year, which she initially thought was triggered by eating greasy food and drinking alcohol. However, the symptom worsened after she was prescribed weight loss injections in November 2023.
“I didn’t have any other symptoms apart from that,” Stirling said of her heartburn, before adding, “I wasn’t losing weight, I wasn’t anemic, I didn’t have any blood in my stools or anything like that. I wasn’t vomiting, and my appetite was brilliant.
“The typical symptoms that you see for stomach cancer, I had none of them,” she said.
David Petrus Ibars/Getty
Semaglutide injection pen (stock image)
Heartburn is a common side effect of using weight loss injections. According to WebMD, 1 in 50 people involved in a Mounjaro clinical trial experienced heartburn, acid reflux, or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease).
Stirling said her symptoms largely went away after she stopped taking weight-loss injections, but she still went for an endoscopy in January 2024. A camera was placed down her throat and into her stomach to examine if there was any cause for concern.
Medics told her that she appeared to have an ulcer — an open sore in the stomach — that was almost “completely healed.” They also said she had Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a common bacteria that can cause sores and inflammation in the lining of the stomach or the upper part of the small intestine, according to WebMD. In some cases, the bacteria can also lead to stomach cancer.
“They gave me some treatment and said to come back in six weeks [when they were planning to] check that the ulcer has healed,” Stirling recalled of the medics. “When I went back in six weeks, that little red mark was still there, so they sent some biopsies off.
“They had not said they were worried about cancer, which they would normally do if they were thinking ‘ooh it looks nasty,’ ” she continued. “I was completely blinded when three weeks later I got a phone call to say I have something called signet ring cell adenocarcinoma, which is the most aggressive stomach cancer.”
Stirling was told that the disease was likely caused by the H. pylori that she could have unknowingly had since childhood.
She explained that her diagnosis was followed by a staging laparoscopy — a keyhole operation that involves the use of small cameras to examine inside the abdomen. She then underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy and had surgery to remove her entire stomach.
LightFieldStudios/Getty
Woman in hospital (stock image)
Stirling said a CT scan in January 2025 showed that she was “all clear,” but the surgeons have followed up with her every three months since and she is due to have another CT scan in July.
“Overall, I’m doing really well, getting my strength back,” she said. “I’m training for a half-marathon in October this year. I’m back in the gym.
“Obviously, I’ve lost a lot of weight because I don’t have a stomach, so my eating is very different now, I have a lot of smaller portions,” she added.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In a follow-up TikTok video, Stirling encouraged viewers to seek medical help if they’re regularly experiencing heartburn, although the symptom isn’t always an indicator of cancer.
“It’s so important to get little things checked out,” she said. “Even if you just think, ‘Oh, I’ll just see how it goes.’
“Anything that you just know in your body isn’t right, I’d push to go and get it checked,” she added. “It’s what, like 15 minutes out of your day to go to a doctor’s appointment that could potentially save your life.”
Read the original article on People